


Alien for Christmas

by embuffalo



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-02 02:03:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2795678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embuffalo/pseuds/embuffalo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas time at the Hong Kong Shatterdome, and secrets and snowballs abound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alien for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [azhdarchidaen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/azhdarchidaen/gifts).



Raleigh Becket was eating a hamburger in the mess hall at Shatterdome. It was December 23rd, and even the garish colors of his “Christmas issue” PPDC sweater (Tendo Choi’s words) could not distract him from his thoughts. He and his friend and Drift partner, Mako Mori, were scheduled to run a simulated jaeger run the next day. Sharing memories that way could affect secrets, and he didn’t want her to know what he had gotten her for Christmas and he wasn’t sure what he could do about it. He could tell that she knew he was hiding something from her—that much could be expected from Drifting so close together. But Mako still didn’t know exactly what he was getting her, and Raleigh wanted to keep it that way.

After his meal, Raleigh decided to take a walk to clear his head. He wandered the hallways of the Shatterdome, hands tucked into pockets. He eventually wound his way down to the K-Science lab, where he was surprised to find Hermann Gottlieb looking moderately cheerful. The German scientist was singing quietly to himself. The tune he was humming sounded remarkably like “The 12 Days of Christmas,” though from what Raleigh could hear, it was actually about math.

Smiling and shrugging, Raleigh turned to go when he heard the irritated blend of Newt’s and Mako’s voices rising. His two friends rounded the corner. Mako was in her own Christmas PPDC sweater, but Newt was dressed like usual. His tie was patterned with red and green kaiju and it went surprisingly well with Newt’s tattoos.

“No! I cannot—” Newt was saying.

Mako interjected, “What damage would I do? I—”

“It’s just too big a risk!”

Mako was about to say something when she flushed and stopped abruptly, eyes locking with Raleigh’s. Mako pressed her lips together.

“What?” Newt queried. “Okay, right, as I was saying, I can’t have you—”

Mako whacked Newt on the arm. “Dr. Geiszler!”

“Ow!” Newt rubbed his bicep. “Mako, my arm will be all out of whack! I get mopey when I can’t elbow Hermann in the ribs!” Turning to sip from a coffee mug that had been sitting on the lab counter, Newt’s gaze fell on Raleigh.

“Ohhhh,” said Newt, mug halfway to his mouth. “Hey, dude! Mako and I were just having a…technical discussion.” He looked at Mako. She nodded slightly.

“Yeah!” Newt set down his coffee mug so his arm movements would not burn the other people in the room with its contents. He continued, grinning at Raleigh, “A big, serious, technical discussion. No Christmas happening in here! I’m sure all the Christmas is, you know, elsewhere, away from all the non-Christmas in here. Why would there be any Christmas in here? There wouldn’t be. I totally don’t like Christmas. Hermann hates it even more! So there’d be no reason for us to be doing anything Christmas-y in here. This is a science lab, where we do science, or, I guess, in Hermann’s case, math. We don’t do Christmas. Christmas isn’t a science! But you knew that, Raleigh, didn’t you?” Newt trailed off, and the gleam in his eyes was enough to light an entire Christmas tree. His next words were hushed. “I could make it a science, Raleigh. I could make a Christmas science. It would be awesome. I’d be, like, a Christmas rockstar! Forget Jesus, I’m the true meaning of Christmas!”

Newt jogged around to the other side of his work station. He lifted up a couple of pieces of paper, then set them down again, shaking his head. The pages that littered the table were either too soggy to be legible or had already been covered with diagrams of kaiju and framed by cartoons and rock lyrics. On top of some of the papers, Raleigh though he could make out the PPDC logo on the sleeve of a sweater that was covered with kaiju slime. Newt hummed a little to himself, then picked up a dry-erase marker from beneath a Berzelius beaker. The delicate system of Popsicle sticks that was perched atop the beaker fell, tumbling to the table and to the floor.

“Oops!” Newt giggled.

Raleigh squatted and gathered the Popsicle sticks. Placing the pile back on Newt’s desk, he noticed blue stains on the wood. He sincerely hoped they were caused by artificial flavoring instead of kaiju fluids, and wiped his hands on his jeans. Newt scrawled in big letters on the whiteboard, writing over the drawing of a kaiju that had already been adorned with a Santa hat. NEWT GEISZLER, he wrote, MAKING CHRISTMAS A SCIENCE SINCE 2025.

“Yes!” Newt pumped his fist in the air. He high-fived Raleigh’s hand and did the same to Mako.

“Hermann!” Newt shouted. “Can you write me a Christmas algorithm? Or something else that’s Christmas-y and math-y?” He then began hopping up and down in some sort of air guitar solo.

Hermann’s frown deepened fifteen degrees. He grabbed his cane. He walked over to the line that divided his and Newt’s lab. “You are going to be quiet,” he hissed. “Or I am going to make Marshal Hansen take away your Christmas privileges.”

Newt’s face fell. He gulped. In an intense whisper (which was about the only kind of whisper that Newt could manage), he said, “Nothing Christmas-related is going on right now.”

Raleigh nodded slowly, and exchanged glances with Mako. His friend had a small smile on her face. He grinned back at her, and clapped Newt on the shoulder. “Then I shall leave you to your non-Christmas activities. Mako, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Mako nodded. “For our simulated Drift.”

Raleigh bobbed his head in response, and left the K-Science lab. Pressing the button to shut the door behind him, Raleigh could hear Mako and Newt raising their voices once more.

* * *

When Raleigh woke up the next morning, he saw white flakes drifting past his small window. He dressed and padded sleepily out of his bunk, then stopped short. Mako was standing opposite, dressed in a dark green turtleneck. Her hair, which was usually black with blue locks that framed her face, was now streaked with red and green.

“Hello, Raleigh,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Merry Christmas, Mako.” Raleigh scratched the back of his head. “So, um, I was wondering if you might want to maybe organize a snowball fight outside after the Drift, if we could get a couple of other players. I’m sure Newt would like to join, and he might be able to get Hermann to come. If not, I think Tendo could be brought around.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” she said. “But first, we should eat."

Raleigh offered his arm to her and they left for the dining hall. They found Herc Hansen beginning to dig into a very tall stack of pancakes. At the buffet, Raleigh chose waffles as Mako put blueberry pancakes on her plate. Trays in hand, they joined Herc on his bench.

“Hey, Raleigh. Mako.” Herc clapped Raleigh on the shoulder. “How’s it going?”

Raleigh smiled. “I’m doing pretty good.”

Mako took a bite, then set down her fork to answer Herc. Toying with her utensil, she replied, “I’m fine. But...” She looked down. “Mr. Hansen? Have you made a decision?” H

erc cut through his pancakes and pointed his knife at Raleigh. “Oh, yeah, before I forget, I’m gonna cancel today’s Drift, if you’re okay with that.”

Raleigh’s grin revealed copious amounts of whipped cream. “Really?”

“Yeah, Mako asked me about it yesterday. She said something about wanting to keep your Christmas present a secret. And hey, it’s snowing. No one really wants to do work on Christmas Eve either, so I figured I may as well give you all a break.”

Mako handed Raleigh a napkin. “Thank you, Mr. Hansen.”

“Yeah, thanks, Herc.” Raleigh turned to the Australian man. “Hey, Mako and I were thinking about organizing a snowball fight and we’d be honored if you’d like to join in.”

“Sure,” Herc nodded. “That’d be fun.”

The Rangers finished their breakfast together, and left to rally their friends.

* * *

Mako, Raleigh, and their friends spent the day outside, throwing snowballs on the loading dock. The game was three-a-side, Raleigh, Mako, and Herc against Newt, Hermann, and Tendo Choi. The team of Rangers had better aim and good reflexes, but the hits scored by the group of scientists were far more impressive.

They were all dressed in warm clothing, but for some reason, Newt was wearing Hermann’s coat. This impaired his physical capabilities to the point that he managed to fling more snow over his own team than they were able to throw at the other side. Hermann, on the other hand, was hunched in a rather tasteful Fair Isles sweater. He pulled a protractor from his pocket before throwing each snowball and performed some ritual with slightly less muttering than usual. Tendo Choi just flung snowballs willy-nilly. B

y the end of the day, everyone was soaked and laughing. As they headed back indoors, voices overlapping, Herc hollered, “Party in my office in thirty minutes! Bring your presents!”

The other employees of the PPDC yelled some variation of “yes, sir!” as they headed inside to warm showers and fresh clothing.

* * *

After Mako had changed and was warm once more, she loaded her arms with presents and took the elevator to Marshal Hansen’s office. Herc and Tendo had drinks in hand and were discussing one of the diagrams that were taped on Herc’s wall. Hermann was stacking his presents in neat formation as Newt was attempting to keep the parcels in his arms from dropping on top of Hermann’s head.

Mako crossed the room and knelt beside Hermann, placing her own wrapped packages next to his. She stood, and Marshal Hansen beckoned her over. “Hey, Mako, come over here!”

She trotted back across the room towards Herc. The Australian man began to speak to her of the jaeger design in front of him, and she responded with her thoughts with equal verve. She had just reached for a piece of paper and a pen off Herc’s desk to demonstrate her idea when she heard several loud barks and Newt’s greeting of, “Hey, dude!”

Mako turned, setting down the MIT pen that she had plucked from Herc’s desk. Raleigh was standing across the room, holding a tinsel-wrapped leash.

At the other end of the leash was a fluffy golden retriever. Raleigh smiled sheepishly at her.

Mako walked towards Raleigh and the dog, smiling. “And who is this?” she asked, kneeling to pet the dog.

Raleigh coughed. “He’s your Christmas present—I figured now that Max stays at Herc’s side, you might want a dog of your own to follow you around.”

“What’s his name?” asked Newt.

Raleigh handed Mako the leash and shrugged. “I figure I’d let Mako name him.”

Standing, Mako put her hands on her hips, looking down at the dog, who was staring up at her in admiration, not unlike the looks her drift partner sometimes gave her. “Shall I name him Raleigh?”

Newt let out a giggle.

“Well, I’m biased,” Raleigh grinned, “but I think it’s a pretty good name.”

Leash, dog, and tinsel got tangled about their legs as Mako hugged him.

“Thank you, Raleigh,” she said. “Oh!” Mako suddenly let go and rushed over to the tree. She grabbed a package from beneath and ran back to hand it to Raleigh. “This is for you.”

He unwrapped it and held it up. It was a sweater, with a carefully knitted Gipsy Danger logo in the center. “Mako, did you make this for me?”

She was about to reply when something that gently glowed red and green burst through the paper that had been covering it.

“Raleigh, I’m so sorry!” Newt cried. “That was supposed to be for you!” 

As the scientist attempted to control the wriggling creature, Raleigh shook his head, smiling, and wrapped his arm around Mako’s shoulders.

**Author's Note:**

> The story's title comes from a delightful song called "Alien for Christmas," and the song that Hermann hums is more or less Vi Hart's "Gauss Christmath Special." Both are worth listening to.
> 
> Thanks to CaptainOfLifeAndLemons for beta'ing.


End file.
